Not a bad way to begin your first Eastern Region championship game in seven years, huh?

Some 90 minutes later, the Wolverines were on the wrong end of a 6-0 score at Princess Anne High. Yet the final margin was deceiving - the Hawks scored five unearned runs in the seventh inning - and Woodside knew it had blown an opportunity to take that crucial early lead.

After giving up Hoeffer's triple, Hickory pitcher Jennifer Gniadek gave up only one more hit the rest of the way and struck out 14 in clinching the regional title. But her biggest three outs came with Hoeffer standing on third.

Woodside (20-3), which will open in the Group AAA state quarterfinals at the Northern Region champion on Tuesday, had only four more baserunners the rest of the way.

"It was really important to get those outs in the first," Gniadek said. "You always want to be the team that scores first. All I wanted to do was keep all the balls in the infield and keep that runner at third."

Hickory coach Ryan Wieck said getting Hale, who was 5-for-7 in her previous two games, was particularly significant.

Instead, it was Hickory (24-1) that ended up taking a 1-0 lead. Emily Ambrous led off the fifth with a single to center. Pinch runner Amber Phillips then stole second and took third on Brittany Booth's groundout. Emily Burke then grounded to first, and Phillips beat the throw home.

Woodside had only one decent scoring chance the rest of the way. But after two fielding errors put runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Rodriguez grounded to third.

After Hoeffer's leadoff triple, Woodside had only one more hit off Gniadek - a fifth-inning single by Lauren Sepulveda.

"She wasn't as fast as the girl from Salem," said Sepulveda, referring to Kendra Knight, whom Woodside beat in the semifinals. "We could have hit her. She was a challenge, but we should have executed more."

The Hawks scored five runs in the seventh inning on only one hit. Andino walked three batters, two with the bases loaded, and hit another. The Wolverines also committed an error.

Going into the seventh, Andino had given up only two hits and no walks.

"I think she got frustrated that she wasn't getting any help," Tallon said. "We had runners in scoring position and some key hitters up, but they just looked at the ball. Gabby pitched well enough for us to win this game, but she didn't get any support."

Woodside's state quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of tonight's championship game in the Northern Region - Westfield vs. Herndon. Hickory will face the Northern runner-up at home.